Food For Thought: Invisible Women and the Current Crisis

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez is a deep dive into how we are analyzing data wrong when it comes to men and women. I listened to it last week, and was all up in arms about clinical trials not even looking at how drugs impact men vs women. I work with data for a living and we study things that are way, way lower risk that harmful drug interactions and we always look at the gender spllt.

Then my kids’ schools closed. And my office closed. And I’m here working more hours than usual and home schooling, and foraging for food (and toilet paper), and cleaning like a mad woman. And I wondered is anyone going to look at what this crisis is doing to women? Or will we keep on assuming that when it comes to data the default human is a man? Will the story of the corona virus tell the whole story?

If you are at home this month and need something to think about I highly recommend this book.

March Show Us Your Books

I have a ridiculous amount of books out of the library right now. I’m not sure what happened. I had been doing such a good job of keeping on top of my holds.

February was a good reading month for me. I’m doing a #AuthorAMonth challenge on Litsy, so took a deep dive into Colson Whitehead. Also, current events seem to be strongly impacting my reading choices.

Here are the best books I read last month:

Best of the Best

(One fiction, one non)

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - I think most people know what this book is about by now, so I won’t re-tell the synopsis. After reading two other books by Whitehead earlier in the month I didn’t think I would like this, but it really is a masterpiece. I’m so glad I finally read it.

On the Clock by Emily Guendelsberger - My co-worker suggested this because she knew I had liked Nickel and Dimed. Sure enough I was fascinated by this updated version where a woman works at Amazon, a call center, and McDonalds. This book seems especially powerful in light of all the conversations we’ve been having lately about lack of paid sick leave.

It’s the End of the World As We Know It

(Where my Twitter feed and the daily news subliminally impacts what I read.)

The Stand by Stephen King - Stephen King’s plague book. My copy is an old, beaten up paperback that doesn’t include the expanded versions from the 1990’s. Sorry King purists, but I prefer it that way. I think it’s a better, cleaner story for the editing.

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice - This book was interesting- a total breakdown of society as experienced by a First Nation tribe. When phone, internet, and services are cut off they think it’s a normal interruption and go about living as they normally would. Eventually they find out it’s something more.

Zone One by Colson Whitehead - This is Whitehead’s zombie apocalypse book, although I read it as more tongue and cheek. Maybe I’m just not deep enough, but I kept feeling like there was more to the story than I was getting.

Vox by Christina Dalcher - This dystopian novel had an excellent premise. In the not too distant future the US has become extremely conservative to the point where women and girls are only allowed to speak 100 words a day. Unfortunately after a impactful opening the book just kind of fizzled. However this book did give me the momentum to finally get my real ID, renew my passport, and check on my voter registration. So there’s that.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - My second post-plague book of the month, I read this as part of my project re-read. This book gets a lot of hype for good reason.

And a Few More Good Books Worth Talking About

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - Another book for project re-read. I think I said this last month too, but more and more I’m really starting to appreciate books that feature older people having lives and maybe even falling in love.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - This one was a ROLLER COASTER. A girl inherits a house and a whole lot of baggage. Read this if you’re a fan of Ruth Ware.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi - Again, I feel like I’m probably the last person to have read this so I won’t re-tell the plot. I’ll just say the world building and magical realism in this YA chunkster were great fun. I’ve read that the next book in the series isn’t as good, and I’m bummed. I’ll still give it a try though.

We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg - One of my favorite themes in books is families we’re born into and families we make. This book had that in spades, and was just the feel good palate cleanser I needed during the doom and gloom of last month.

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REVIEW: Fire on the Track by Roseanne Montillo

Growing up as a child under Title IX the ability to play on a sports team was a given for me. That’s why I’ve found the handful of books I’ve read this year about the early years of women’s athletics so fascinating. Fire on the Track, the story of the first three Olympics in which women were allowed to participate is no exception.

The book follows a handful of women athletes in the 20’s and 30’s, but the most prominent was Betty Robinson, the first woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal. The conditions early women athletes faced were incredible – uncomfortable running shoes, sub-par lodging and food once they got to the Olympics, and invasive exams to prove they were, indeed, women. If you ever needed a book to make you feel grateful for the women who came before us this is it.

If you read and liked Dust Bowl Girls this book is a worthwhile pairing. Likewise if you like this book I highly recommend Dust Bowl Girls!

Note: Blogging for Books provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My favorite fiction from 2016

I read a lot of good books this year, books that had me ignoring my family, missing stops on trains, and hoping that my plane would be delayed just a little bit longer. Here are the stand outs.

End of Watch by Stephen King - This book, the last one in the Bill Hodges trilogy by Stephen King, pushed all my good book buttons. I loved the rsolution, and the call backs to King's earlier books.

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith - It's been a long time since I felt like I was actually in a book, but The Farm took me to Sweden in the snow. This book had a great ending too.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne - Yeah, I know there's a lot wrong with the timelines, depction of the characters, etc. I just loved being back at Hogwarts.

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - An amazing audiobook loved by my whole family. Would be great for a family road trip.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein - My favorite read out loud all year. Had us up reading way past bed time. The first book that ever made my son say "Just one more chapter, please???"

Opening Belle by Maureen Sherry - The circumstances of this working mom's day to day were kind of far fetched, but I feel like this is one of the few books that got the details of my experience right.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik - I just finished this not too long ago, and loved it. The only thing that made me give it 4 1/2 stars instead of 5 was that it dragged on just a bit too long at the end. Other than that, this is the kind of book that will make you want to curl up and just keep reading.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng - A powerful story about a part of World War II you don't often hear about.

And some re-reads...

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King - A must read after a crazy trip to Maine - still good, and a trip down memory lane to the years before the Red Sox finally won the World Series.

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder - My favorite of the series. I'm so glad I got to read it again.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume - I read this for a reading challenge, and it still holds up after all these years.

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My favorite non-fiction books from 2016

Earlier this year, I made a goal to read or listen to fifty non-fiction books. I read 47 - not bad, considering I'm in the middle of 3 non-fiction books right now, and I still have 11 days left to go in the year.

My non-fiction books look a lot different from my reading list I created at the end of last year. I managed to get through only 15 of 40 on my list. I can't decide if I need to read harder, or if I need to ease up a bit on my list. I have some very ambitious books on my list while my actual non-fiction reading leaned more towards travel memoirs and cook books. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Here are the non-fiction highlights from 2016. (Note, I'm talking about books I read in 2016, not necessarily books published in 2016.)

Best General Non-fiction from 2016:

Leaving Orbit by Margaret Lazarus Dean - Makes you sad that you didn't pay more attention to the space shuttle program when it was around.

The Road Not Taken by David Orr - An in depth look at the poem everyone quotes without understanding.

When Books Went To War by Molly Guptil Manning - A testamnet to the power of reading.

Best travel memoirs from 2016:

Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery - Read this book if you want to feel weak (but in a good way.)

Walking with Plato by Gary Hayden - An excellent walking book where the walkers don't end up fighting or divorced at the end.

Braving It by Ben Campbell - A father and daughter go to backwoods Alaska. What could go wrong?

Best Biographies from 2016:

Hissing Cousins by Marc Plyser and Timothy Dwyer - A great look at a historical rivalry.

Rosemary by Kate Clifford Larson - So sad, but extremely interesting.

Best Cookbooks from 2016:

100 Recipes by America's Test Kitchen - Everything in this book is amazing. I keep having grand plans of cooking through it.

Home Cooked by Anya Fernald - Another book of delicious food, but also a great book to curl up with on a stormy day.

Everyone is Italian on Sunday by Rachel Ray - No gimmicks in this book, just great food. Try the oatmeal.

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My Five Star Summer Reads

I read a bunch this summer, and I'm happy to say I had six five star reads - pictured above. Click on any of the images to see a description on amazon.

I'm trying to think if there's any common theme among them, and can't come up with anything. They're just awesome books.

What was the best book you read this summer?

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REVIEW: Mistakes I Made At Work

Mistakes can be so isolating. When you make one, it kind of feels like you're the only one to have ever screwed up so badly in all the history of the world. But, of course, you're not. We should all talk about our mistakes more. You go first.

Luckily Mistakes I Made At Work by Jessica Bacal has stepped in to fill the void. This book isn't 100% great. Some of the stories read as if the author is trying to say that her mistake was working with people that just aren't as awesome as her. But there are other stories, like the one by the ER doctor, that really help to reflect on when I'm up at 3 am going over again how I could have forgot to add a decimal point in the Excel sheet I was working on. Or whatever. That's just a totally made up example.

More books that get me through the day at work:

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. I was given a copy of Mistakes I Made At Work as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers program, but all opinions are mine.